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Pressure mounts on FDA to expand pig-to-human organ transplant research
During a two-day conference in late June, policy advisors to the FDA and medical professionals discussed the future of xenotransplantation and "most attendees agreed that human trials are needed to help answer the most pressing research questions."
ICYMI: Pig organ donors, 3D-printed car fashion and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-994956{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-994956, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-994956{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-994956").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Gene researchers published a paper detailing how they removed DNA sequences from pig cells that are normally harmful to humans, which could eventually lead to pig organs successfully being used in humans. No word on how the pigs feel about that. A clothing line made to synchronize with Audi at a car show put vehicle sensors within the clothing, reacting when people got near. And MIT's Media Lab continues its work with a kinetic energy machine that can react to people waving a hand over it. It's half art, half mesmerizing.
Chinese firm wants to sell you genetically modified pet pigs
The concept of buying pets with custom genes may soon become a reality. Beijing Genomics Institute has divulged plans to sell genetically modified pigs whose DNA will keep them small, weighing in at a modest 31 to 44 pounds. The tweak was originally meant to produce ideal subjects for disease modeling research, but the healthy first generation is reportedly well-suited to pet buyers who don't want large hogs in their living rooms. While it's too soon to know exactly how long these "micro pigs" will live, they're expected to last 15 to 20 years.
Patch 5.4.1: Asia-only pets added to Recruit-A-Friend
Perculia over at Wowhead has been digging around on the patch 5.4.1 PTR and unearthed some great reward-based news for the upcoming new Recruit-a-Friend system. If you're into pet collection, there's a faint possibility you might already be aware of the couple of Asia-only exclusive pets that we could never get our pixel hands on in NA and EU regions. Well, they're on the PTR, both the pigs you see in the header image, and a couple of miniaturized versions of the jewelcrafting tigers. You can check them out in Wowhead's article too. All the pets are battle pets, both pigs are critters and both tigers are magic. There's also screenshots of the Recruit-A-Friend in-game UI, bearing a striking resemblance to the look of the in-game store overall. It shows windows for your friend's email address and for your note, as well as what seems likely to be a follow-up screen where you choose your reward from the tokens issued. It seems to be quite the improvement on the previous system where you had to do most of the work from the battle.net site. Hopefully this rework also makes the overall process easier for the friend being recruited as well as the recruiter -- the old system was not exactly intuitive.
Leaderboard: Spider vs. pig
If you search the loftiest heights of fantasy, the dank dungeons of horror, the far-out locales of sci-fi, or the war-torn post-apocalyptic highways, chances are you'll stumble upon two creatures that are near-universal in MMOs. Whether you be swinging a sword or firing off compressed photonic bursts, chances are sooner or later you'll face off against a giant spider. And, later on, a giant pig. Pigs and spiders, spiders and pigs: MMO devs do love both equally. They're convenient fodder for heroes to use as training on their way up to slaying dragons, as nobody likes spiders and everyone likes ham and bacon. And while they almost never stand a chance against the never-ending player onslaught, what would happen if spider fought pig in-game? Who would emerge triumphant and who would slink back to its trough/web in shame? Take some time to weigh the pros and cons of each contestant, and let us know which you think would win in a one-on-one scuffle! (And for those of you out there itching to make a spider-pig reference in the comments, I'm preempting you. Booyah.)
Daily iPhone App: Baby Monkey (going backwards on a pig)
There's two ways to do this. I could tell you that Baby Monkey is a terrific running game, with a really fun double-jump mechanic, bright and colorful graphics, and the catchiest theme song I've heard all year (the game itself is based on Parry Gripp's song). I could say that it's got full Game Center integration, and is available in the App Store for just 99 cents right now. And I could tell you that it's a must-buy title with lots of fun and replay value. Or, I could just tell you that it's got a baby monkey that rides backwards on a pig. Either way, you should be on your way to the App Store to pick it up right now.
Plundering the free seas: Pirates of the Burning Sea dev talks about F2P
Curious about how a subscription-based MMO makes the transition to a free-to-play model? It's not as easy as one might assume, and Pirates of the Burning Sea was no exception. In a recent devlog, PotBS's Misha takes us behind the stage to look at the logistical details and hurdles that had to be taken for this jump between business models. While the team had been mulling over a microtransaction model from the beginning, it was only after a lot of discussion with SOE that the publisher showed the team a way this could be implemented. Following that, the team had to tackle several tricky issues, such as expired trial accounts, boxes still in the stores and all of the subscription types it had in place. Next, the team ran the system through quite a bit of testing to iron out the snags. "Those who helped us test F2P in the early days will recall pets on their own little boats in the midst of battle, trying desperately to help out. You could zoom in and see a pig or chicken standing in a commanding position overlooking their hardworking crews. This bug is one of my favorite ever, and I'm still a little sad that we fixed it." It wasn't just the software that needed to be tested but also the physical setup. At one point, Misha writes, "For whatever reason, we were suffering hardware failure after hardware failure." While the F2P transition was slated for Thanksgiving 2010, it failed to hit the date. "We hit a major issue on our side and SOE hit a major snag on their side. So, no Thanksgiving F2P. On the one hand, we were really discouraged that we hadn't met our target. On the other hand, we were incredibly glad we had tackled these issues before we went live," she writes. Eventually Pirates of the Burning Sea "soldiered through it all" and made it to the live servers, much to the team's delight. For a full rundown of this saga and the true tale of commanding pigs, head on over to Pirates of the Burning Sea.
Speakal's Cool iPig blasts iPod tunes with extra badassitude
You have to go to great lengths these days to distinguish your iPod dock from the teeming horde, but that's exactly what Speakal did here. To state the obvious, it's a pig, wearing sunglasses, and filled with stereo components. The beast has four-watt stereo drivers for eyes, a down-firing 15 watt subwoofer in the belly, controls in the snout, and ports in the tail region. There's also an internal lithium ion battery good for up to eight untethered hours on a charge. We're not sure what would possess you to buy the hog, especially for its $150 asking price, but it could be just the item you've been looking for to bolster your eccentric reputation... or ward off particularly annoyed fowl.
Confused pig face mobile phone has paw print buttons, Winnie the Pooh sticker
Oh China, how we love the gadgets you produce. Particularly those of the homegrown variety. We can't say we spotted this pig face mobile during our recent jaunt through the gadget sectors of Hong Kong, but boy, do we wish we had. In one of the most extreme cases of product confusion ever, it looks as if we've got a clamshell phone with the face of a pig, a 0.3 megapixel camera, light-up eyes, a smattering of misplaced Walt Disney logos, paw print send / end buttons and rear speakers, and a random Winnie the Pooh sticker on the rear -- you know, to really cap things off. We're guessing this is some failed attempt to generate yet another KIRF Disney phone, but seriously, a glowing pig? Hello Kitty is not pleased. [Thanks, Chris]
Piggy speakers are so cute they make us wish we were still vegetarians
We've seen enough little portable speakers in our day, and we're pretty hard to impress at this point. Now, we're not saying that we're "impressed" with the little ceramic pig speaker that you see in the image above, but... there's something somewhat special about it. While we don't have any specs on this one, we can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that this little speaker's not going to impress even the beginner audiophile, but still, we think it's cute enough to warrant a place on our desk, right between our Fender Mini-Deluxe amp and the tiny reproduction Parrothead visor we made for our Chihuahua. These little porkers (which can be plugged into your favorite PMP for maximum blasting of "Margaritaville" on-the-go) seem to be available in Japan only for the time being, and they run ¥4,725 (about $50). They also come in several different colors -- a photo of the other options is after the break. [Via Technabob]
Speakal's iPig speaker system rolls in the mud with your iPod
For those of you (we know, pretty much everyone in existence) who already picked up a set of Pink Pig PC speakers a few years back, you can carry on with your daily routine. For everyone else that owns an iPod, hold it right there. Speakal is delivering the iPod docking iPig, a unique speaker system that packs five total drivers (including a 4-inch subwoofer), adjustable bass controls, 360-degree sound distribution and a very debatable design. You'll also find a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary jack for hooking up every other source, and the bundled remote makes it easy to switch tracks and such from your sofa. The only problem? That $139.99 price tag. Check the full release after the jump.
Pigbuds: 'cause your ears are purty too
Sound quality? Who cares. Thanks to Green House, pigs can finally stuff themselves into human orifices like a reverse-Appalachia. Just be prepared to kiss your ¥1,280 (about $12) goodbye with that pretty mouth of yours after the novelty of this quaint little adventure turns vile.[Via Impress]
Due for more Polymorph options
Here's a good idea from the forums: more sheep choices! Polymorph was one of the most beloved spells in the Warcraft RTS games, and so players were thrilled to see it come to World of Warcraft, and even more thrilled when two other variations on the spell were learned: instead of sheeping, players can either polymorph pig or turtle with two learned spells from quests or drops in the game.But since the introduction of Zul'Gurub, we haven't seen any other options for mages in game. And there are plenty to choose from by now-- Polymorph: Ravager, Polymorph: Clefthoof, or Polymorph: Elekk would all work great. Polymorph: Willy would even be lots of fun. Oh, and yes, as players in the thread say, since we're headed to Northrend, Polymorph: Penguin would not be out of order in the next expansion.Blizzard has done a pretty good job of taking mounts, both flying and ground-based, towards a little horizontal progress-- giving more options on one level instead of setting up a few options over multiple levels. But hopefully Polymorph will get a little love, too-- even though mages are the only ones who benefit directly, my guild has always had fun making sure our mages have all the Polymorph options possible.
Polly wanna morph?
Last night we ventured back into Zul'Gurub, mudskunks in hand, for another unsuccessful attempt at the fishing boss. Although Gahz'ranka didn't see fit to drop my book, again, I was grateful for the opportunity. I don't know why I am obsessed with getting the third polymorph spell, but I am. In fact, I think there should be more of these little gems. I have often found myself in a group with another mage, and having a pig and a sheep certainly makes knowing who's target is who's that much easier. So I have been thinking about the polymorphs I have seen used by NPCs in the game, and the ones I would like to use myself. Yesterday, after the ganking discussion, I started a blood elf warlock on a pvp server. I didn't get far, but I managed to get some apprentice discipline in before I switched characters. There it was, another polymorph I hadn't even recognized, and although I don't really want to be able to turn people into boars, it's out there as a possibility. I've been turned into squirrels, frogs, rats, chickens, even flowers. All of these spells are in the game, albeit as NPC abilities, and I think should be available to the mages willing to slough through the difficult task of getting them. The way I see it, the more variety the more chance for personalization of the character, and it sure would be easy to distinguish one mage's poly from another in raids. Another idea on customization goes along with the concept of beauty parlors. Instead of having a lot of different animals, mages could quest for the ability to colorize their sheep. I've done it in other games, and this would be another way to distinguish targets. Plus, it would just plain be fun. What do you think? Which animals would you like to see added to the list of polymorphs? Personally, I'm voting for polymorph: panda.
Barnyard Blast: Swine of the Night
Under any other circumstances, dismissing a game titled Barnyard Blast from an unproven developer would be easy. Given the dozens of games announced every week, it would be an effortless reflex. But upon hearing that Barnyard Blast brings together Castlevania themes with cowboy pigs, we would hold onto the game like it was our first-born. Insert Credit spent some time with an early demo at GDC and enjoyed what little there was to play. Early screenshots show the hog hero creeping through a cemetery with a six-shooter, shotgun, and "slayer" in his inventory. Whether or not the game will include vampire sheep, zombie cows, or other undead farm animals has yet to be revealed.Fans of the Castlevania series have been complaining about its stagnation for some time now. Has Sanuk Software discovered exactly what the languishing genre needs? More pork?
Dell XPS M2010 reviewed
CNET's staff just strapped on their bionic suits and hoisted Dell's 20-pound XPS M2010 into the lab for a full, hands-on review. Calling this desktop/laptop hybrid a "striking feat of engineering" (that's a compliment, we think), the reviewer fawns over the M2010's premium components, bright 20-inch glossy display, and 8-speaker system with subwoofer which is said to deliver "rich, clear" audio and more low-end sound than any laptop he's seen. The guy's equally stoked by the magnetically held Bluetooth keyboard and gyroscopic Media Center remote which includes a small LCD screen for peeping music and video track details when not flittering the thing about to control the onscreen cursor. The M2010 also proved to be an "able gaming machine" though not the best. However, the M2010 is still "absurdly expensive" with a $3500 base config rocketing upwards to $8000 fully spec'd and the battery only lasted about 2-hours while the machine simply idled. Oh, and the pig is just too heavy to be truly portable thereby limiting its appeal. Still, if you're a smarmy sales type, LAN party trust-funder, or Ivy league media troll looking for a single all-in-one desktop / laptop / home stereo / TV(via optional USB tuner) then this hulk of Dell-icousness might be calling you home. [Thanks, Chris]
